The fabrication of semiconductor devices requires providing insulating or dielectric materials at various selected regions of the device. For instance, among the more widely used dielectric materials are silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, certain silicate glasses, and some organic resins. In fact, in some devices, air has been suggested as the desired dielectric.
More recently, amorphous silicon carbide films have been proposed as the interlevel dielectric materials in multilevel semiconductor Back End of Line (BEOL) process integration schemes. Amorphous silicon carbide films exhibit relatively low k values, thereby making them a potential interlevel dielectric.
It has been observed, however, that the adhesion of silicon carbide films to various surfaces employed in semiconductor devices is not as tenacious as would be desired in typical integration schemes. In particular, it has been found that silicon carbide films do not adhere especially well to the typical metallurgy employed in semiconductor devices Such as copper, aluminum and alloys thereof. Also, it has been found that the bond between silicon carbide films and silicon oxide interfaces typically found in semiconductor devices is not as strong as would be desired.
Accordingly, providing for enhanced adhesion between silicon carbide films and these surfaces would be a significant improvement in the art.